


Say Something

by X_The_Unicorn



Series: MCYT classical musicians au [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crying, Gen, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, I guess???, Making Up, My First AO3 Post, Platonic relationships only - Freeform, Songfic, Uhhh CLASSICALLY Trained Musicians, but is it actually a songfic?, i think i'm not doing well with the tags, they are musicians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:47:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26495113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/X_The_Unicorn/pseuds/X_The_Unicorn
Summary: There's a duet performance in four hours, and George isn't talking with his duet partner.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Series: MCYT classical musicians au [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1931692
Kudos: 57





	Say Something

**Author's Note:**

> Hi so this is my first post here on ao3, and I'm nervous heheh
> 
> This also may or may not be the first completed work I've written in two (2) years... so I apologise if the plot doesn't flow well
> 
> Also just a disclaimer: The author is actually a pianist and obtains all her violin knowledges through Twoset lmao
> 
> Another disclaimer: The author isn't a music student, so she has no idea what goes on in music uni oh no
> 
> Enjoy!

There’s a duet performance in four hours, and George isn’t talking with his duet partner.

George groans annoyedly. The music sheet lies innocently on the stand in front of him, dotted with pencil marks and circles. He has memorised the notes, almost ingrained them into his mind, but that isn’t the point at the moment. He looked at his phone for the third time in two minutes. The screen remained dark.

George has pride in his ego, and he’s definitely not going to break the silence first.

It was stupid, the reason they even fought in the beginning. They have decided to relax last night by playing Minecraft, as per usual. George and his partner have this agreement that they try and relax as much as possible the night before the performance, giving themselves a break, for the nerves to loosen up a bit right before they get tightened to the max. So at 8pm sharp, George settled his violin back into the case, went over to his computer and launched the game. He also opened Discord on another tab, expecting the other to be there already.

Dream wasn’t even online.

As George joined their smp world and started to move his character out of his base, he tried to message Dream multiple times. After a few minutes, the dot beside Dream’s icon eventually lighted up green and he joined the voice call. 

“What.” Dream sounded more annoyed than usual, the most agitated he had ever sounded like. “I’m practicing, don’t disturb me.”

“It’s important to relax as well as to work hard, Dream.” George replied, already used to how much a perfectionist his fellow duet partner is. “Move away from the stand, and come play with me. I have a plan to---"

“No, I’m hanging up. Have fun.” Dream’s voice had taken a hard edge, and George could hear the hostility in it. Very typical of Dream, but something about that hostility rubbed George the wrong way.

“Haven’t we agreed that we relax the night before any performance or recitals?” George replied, feeling a bit of edge creep into his voice as well.

“I can’t be playing Minecraft now. Practising is more important!” Dream was starting to raise his voice. “I don’t have time for stupid games, George.”

George felt his mind go white hot with rage the moment he heard his words. “Stupid games? Dream, you are the one who suggested playing Minecraft to relax! You’re going too hard on yourself, you’re going to strain if you don’t rest! We can talk it out nicely, I know you’re stressed now...” He could feel his own voice taking a softer turn at the end. He was genuinely concerned for his partner’s wellbeing.

“Let’s see who messes up the performance tomorrow then. I don’t want to talk anymore, George.” Tone stone cold, Dream cut him off again, and that’s the final straw for George.

“FINE!” George yelled, all composure gone. He hastily pressed on the end call button and squeezed his eyes shut. “You are literally just dragging us down at this point. So what if we mess up? I don’t care because it’s you who refuse to cooperate with me! We can just split up and go on our separate ways! Screw you and your pretentious little music career!”

He slammed his fist on his desk a few times, feeling the last bit of the irk towards Dream’s attitude leave his system. He opened his eyes and focused back onto the screen, to find the call button still lighted up green. If he listened carefully, he could make out the slightly shaky inhales on the other end of the line.

Dream had heard everything.

“… Dream? Are you there?”

The line went dead.

……………………

George sighed heavily as his fingers skillfully danced across the fingerboard, doing rounds of warm ups scales and appregios. It feels as natural as breathing, but something else feels foreign.  
Dream always came to his house on the day of the performance to do one last practice session together, but he is missing today.

George knows he fucked up royally, and that he should really, really apologise to dream first. But everytime he raises his finger to call Dream, he can’t get himself to do it. He cringes at his own cowardice. The performance is in four flipping hours. He shouldn’t be thinking about this. But will he be thinking about this if they never got into an argument in the first place?

At least it isn’t a big performance. Just an invitation from their high school to perform on the school festival. There will be no presence of eagle-like eyes from panels, nor the judgemental stares from fellow music students. Just a bunch of parents and wimpy high schoolers. It won’t be a big deal even if they mess up.

But George doesn’t want to mess up, and he knows Dream won’t want to too.

They are supposed to be there two hours earlier for rehearsals, but Dream had sent him a short message that he will be late to the rehearsals. He didn’t even give an excuse. Luckily, they had performed in their high school hall many times before, so they both knew where to stand to get the most reverb of sound off the walls, how their microphones will be placed, and where they should be when in position. Dream always stand to the right because he usually plays the higher voice. He also once mentioned that he prefer standing to George’s right side too, so that he can see George easily.

Music club of high school feels simultaneously like an eternity ago and just seconds ago. It was where George meet Dream, both aspiring violinists who wanted to major in music. They had hit it off almost instantly, with their similar interests and background. Three months into joining the club, they decided to partner up for duets whenever it is required. It took them another two months until they decided that they are ready to perform as a duet. George remembers the first performance clearly: they had completely nailed it, earning a huge round of applause from the audience. Together with their accompanist, another violinist from music club named Nick who happened to know how to play the piano, they went on to charm their audiences for three more years until their graduation, only to reunite again in university. Nick, who somehow picked up the nickname Sapnap from Dream, is a junior to both of them.

They are the Dream Team. And at this very moment, George fears that the team is going to fall apart. 

Sapnap is already there when George arrived at rehearsals. “You’re late to rehearsal, dude.” He teases lightly, not noticing George’s sour mood. 

“It’s fine. Not the first time.” George replies flatly, and Sapnap instantly looked up from his phone, knowing that something is wrong. “George, where’s Dream?” He asks, standing up to go to him.

“Not here. Somewhere else.” George says, unable to keep the dejection out of his tone. “I messed up and we fought.”

“That sucks, dude,” Sapnap says sympathetically, patting George’s shoulder once. “I once had an argument with my duet partner before a performance, but we made up right before we had to go on stage. It might happen with you guys too.”

“Yeah, I hope so.” George sets down his violin case, unzipping it. “But it’s easier to make up with your partner because that’s Darryl we’re talking about.”

“You have a point.” Sapnap is about to start talking again when the door to the dressing room opens. Dream walks in carrying his violin case, his backpack slinging over one shoulder. “Hey Sapnap!” He greets the accompanist, giving him a casual wave with his free hand. Then he walks right past George to the other end of the dressing room to settle his stuff down.

“Good to see you Dream!” Sapnap responds, but shoots George a look when Dream isn’t facing them. George can only give him a weak smile as he feels ice cold dread washing over him. He really messed up this time, didn’t he? 

Wordlessly, George grabbed his performance clothes and exited the dressing room. He goes straight past the usual bathroom the occupants of the dressing room would use, and dives into another one that is further away from there. It is empty as expected, because no one is at school at the moment. Once inside, George splashes his face with water and looks into the mirror, letting out a big sigh. He then starts changing into his performance clothes, stiff but familiar, always smelling like the slightest bit of rosin. George dislikes wearing formal clothes, but being a music student it’s inevitable as recitals require formal attire. He knows that Dream hates it too, and everything they have to change into them Dream will go on a full 2-minute rant about how uncomfortable formal attire is. Without those grumbles, the silence in the bathroom is louder than ever.

“Get yourself together, George.” He tells himself before leaving the bathroom.

When he returns to the dressing room, only Sapnap is left inside again. 

“Dream says he has errands to run, and will be missing from rehearsal.” Sapnap informs him. “Although I can tell it’s not the case because Dream never misses a single rehearsal. George, he once said that it’s more important than the actual perfomance itself. What you said must have really hurt him.” 

“I told him that his music career is pretentious and that we should split up.” George drawls, watching Sapnap’s eyes widen. “I know how important it is to him, and I know he works very hard for it. I screwed up big time, Nick.”

“You screwed up.” Sapnap agrees. “I’m not going to tell you to apologise because God bless your huge ego, but that’s literally the only thing you can do now if you don’t want to mess up this performance. We’re missing chemistry, dude. A duet never sounds good when the two people in the duet have no chemistry between each other.”

“Untrained ears can’t tell.” George replies tiredly, and Sapnap, not wanting to argue more, decides to leave him alone for the time being. “Soundcheck is in 2, although we don’t actually need it. Dream’s not here, so there’s no point in going out there. Just… try and loosen a bit and warm up, okay?”

George merely nods, having no strength to answer. His mind wanders to Dream again.

Will this really be the end of the Dream Team?

……………………

The audience is almost full. It’s mostly quiet, with just a few chatters here and there. The emcee is introducing them, but her voice is all muffled in George’s mind, lost in the loud train of his thoughts.  
Dream has shown up 10 minutes before the event starts. He apologises for missing rehearsal, takes his violin up, tunes it quickly and starts warming up. He still doesn’t look at George, not even a single side glance. George is starting to feel really uncomfortable in his presence. The first few performances start. Usually, the trio would sneak out of their dressing room to watch at least a few performances from backstage, but this time they just sit at their respective corners of the room tensely. George is getting pretty tired of the silent treatment, but he figures that he totally deserves it. 

They’re standing side by side now, holding their violins and bows, ready to step out into the spotlight. Sapnap is out at the stage already, sitting at the piano, getting ready. It’s just the two of them now, and the tension is so thick George thinks he can slice it cleanly in half with a diamond sword. He has to do something to break it first.

“Dream?” No response.

“Go break a leg.” George says lowly. 

Dream looks straight forward, face completely devoid of emotion. George bites his lower lip and looks down. There’s no going back now, no more time to talk. There is applause, and both of them take it as a cue to walk out onto the stage.

They bow and wait for the clapping to diminish away. Someone clears their throat. Another person coughs. Dream turns to Sapnap and nods once.

Soft piano fills the air, the notes low and melancholic, not unlike how George is feeling at the moment. He lifts the violin up to his shoulder and plays. 

_Say something, I’m giving up on you  
I’ll be the one, if you want me to_

Even though there are no words being sung out loud, George hears them in his head as clear as day. He turns slightly in Dream’s direction, not expecting to meet his eyes. But Dream is looking at him, face carefully blank. 

_Anywhere I would’ve followed you  
Say something I’m giving up on you_

Their eyes are still locked, as Dream started to play in a higher voice than him. Dream sounds as amazing as usual, but is there something else in his playing tonight? 

_And I am feeling so small  
It was all over my head  
I know nothing at all_

Somehow, even the vibrations in Dream’s notes feel different. George can’t tell what exactly is different, but as he falls deeper into the music and the lyrics are constantly running in his head like a rolling sign, he feels himself reciprocrating the difference.

_And I will stumble and fall  
I’m still learning to love  
Just starting to crawl_

Emotions start creeping their way into Dream’s expressive eyes. George recognises hurt first out of everything else. He tries directing his guilt into his own expression as well, hoping that Dream can catch it. The moment Dream does, George sees it immediately. His expression crumbles just a tiny bit, but George feels his heart shatter at the sight.

They turn to the audience at a long note for an instance, took a breath in unison and turn back to each other as they play the chorus in harmony. 

_Say something I’m giving up on you  
I’m sorry that I couldn’t get to you  
Anyway I would’ve followed you  
Say something I’m giving up on you_

George doesn’t want to lose Dream. From the first time they started to talk in that shabby club activity room all those years ago, he had become an important part in George’s life. Dream is like the other half of himself, the puzzle piece that fits perfectly into his. Having Dream in his high school journey, and now university journey, has become as natural as breathing. His mind flashes quickly through all the late night practices, the talks in the practice room, the instant noodle trips they take down the dorm corridors in university. He feels something stinging behind his eyes, and he has to turn away. 

This could actually be the last time.

The piano turns gentle, as George and Dream dial down the intensity of their playing too. The notes flowing out becomes almost delicate, as fragile as glass. 

_And I will swallow my pride  
You’re the one I love  
And I’m saying goodbye_

George doesn’t want this to be goodbye, and he turns back to Dream, trying to tell him through the music. While he is busy trying to express his apology non verbally to Dream, he is paying close attention to Dream as well. Dream’s higher parts naturally sound more sorrowful, and he already sounds that way during the practices, but George can tell that he brings this to a whole new level during this performance. The music sounds downright heartbreaking, coupled with Dreams slowly crumpling face which he maintains just enough not to break his façade, makes George’s next inhale slightly shaky. He holds half of his breath, only exhaling lightly, afraid that the next inhale will turn into something else.

There are a few seconds of just Sapnap’s playing, picking up in volume, and Dream takes this moment to turn more to George’s direction, almost directly facing him. They take a shaky breath in unison again, definitely loud enough for the mics to pick up, but at the moment they don’t care at all. 

_Say something I’m giving up on you  
And I’m sorry that I couldn’t get to you  
Anywhere I would’ve followed you  
Say something I’m giving up on you_

George can see that Dream is slowly but surely losing his composure, indicated by the way his lips start to tremble when he breathes and his eyes becoming red rimmed, and George is sure he looks just like that too. The pressure in his sinus is becoming more and more uncomfortable, and Dreams’s face blurs just slightly- but they have to make it through this performance. During performances, George usually finds himself losing in the music especially when playing classical pieces that don’t have lyrics, but when playing pop music, he just focuses on the lyrics. However, at this moment, he found himself focusing on Dream more, even when the lyrics are engraved into his mind. He is sure that Dream gets his message, and he gets Dream’s message too. Through music, especially when they’re playing it, George can feel their souls connect in a way that neither of them can describe. Dream doesn’t want this to end too. 

_Say something I’m giving up on you  
Say something._

The final verse kicks in, and George turns to the audience as they play the final notes, mainly because he can’t stand looking into Dream’s eyes anymore. From his peripheral vision he sees Dream does the same, and at the back of his mind he realises that they’ve pratically ignored the audience, since they were so caught up in trying to play to each other. But at the moment, George doesn’t care. George squeezes his eyes shut, trying to will the tears in his eyes back. He keeps his eyes closed as they draw out the last long note, waiting for the piano to end and the audience to clap. They bow, and he feels the wave of applause washing over him, signalling the end of yet another successful performance. Normally both of them would bask in the applause for another few seconds, but then Dream starts rushing backstage with a faster pace than usual, and George has to struggle a bit to keep up with him. 

As they are walking towards the dressing room, George can’t help but feel a fresh round of fear. They had the mutual understanding during the performance, but what if that was actually the last duet they have? What if Dream really doesn’t want to talk to him anymore? What if… 

“Dream!” George heard himself call out as they enter the dressing room, George locking it after entering just in case. George sees Dream hurry to his corner, set down his violin and almost sprints towards his direction, and George has just enough time to put his own violin down before Dream tackles him down onto the floor in a tight hug.

“George I’m so sorry- I---” Dream chokes out wetly, and George immediately breaks as well as he returns the hug just as furiously. “No, Dream, it was all my fault, please forgive me…” he sobbed, tears pouring out onto his cheeks, down his chins, and into Dream’s hair. He feels Dream’s shoulder shake with the intensity of his cries, his suit getting soaked with his tears. “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry please don’t leave me Dream I didn’t mean anything I said yesterday…” George struggles to catch his breath through the tears, mumbling the same apologies over and over again. He could feel Dream mumble his own apologies and assurances into his shoulder as well, but all the words fall deaf on his ears at the moment. The room is silent except for the two’s heavy sobbing. 

After what seems like an hour, George finally feels himself calm down to just a few sniffles now and then. Dream is still hugging him, his face buried in an awkward angle in his shoulder. He feels Dream’s body heat seep through the thick suits, and oh, he feels so warm. They don’t hug often, just a brief one after a successful performance, but George thinks he can definitely get used to long hugs like this. Dream slowly withdraws himself from George’s shoulder to face him, and George finds himself missing the warmth on his chest. Dream’s face is blotchy and wet with tear tracks all over. 

“I’m sorry I went back on my promises, I was stressed that I can’t interpret the song well enough.” Dream says, and George immediately shakes his head. “No, I’m the one at wrong here, I shouldn’t have said anything about spliting up in first place. I’m sorry Dream, I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“I know I’m not supposed to hear that,” Dream replies, removing one hand from George’s side to wipe his own face. “I know that you don’t mean it. And I’m sorry for ignoring you for the entire day. I didn’t actually have errands to run.”

“Nick told me that. I should’ve apologised right after knowing that you heard me. I’m sorry that I’m too proud to apologise.” George put both his palms over his face. “I’m not proud of how I was acting.”

Dream hums in response and shifts, moving to sit down next to George, their back against the wall. Their arms are pressed close to each other, so that they still feel each other’s touch. They fall into a comfortable silence, a million thoughts racing through their head respectively.

“That was… not the best performance.” George says after a while, “but I like it. I hope someone at the front row recorded it.” 

“I agree. We didn’t even look at the audience, the professors in uni would’ve condemned us so badly for that.” Dream chuckles, making George smile as well. “But yeah, I love it too. That was the most emotional performance ever. I was scared that I couldn’t bring out the emotions the song is supposed to have. I think I did that quite well. My sister was in the audience, front row. I think she filmed it.”

“Yes, the moment you started playing, I feel that.” George turns his neck to Dream. “So, we cool now?”

“Say no more.”

The two fall silent again before there’s a knock on the door they are leaning on. Both of them scramble to get up, and George unlocks the door, revealing a smiling Nick. “You two done making up?” He asks, but his eyes show a knowing glint. George and Dream smile to each other.

“Yeah, never better.”

**Author's Note:**

> Extras:
> 
> “Oh my gosh, the mic picked up our inhales! They aren’t supposed to do that, it sounds so gross!”
> 
> “No no no that isn’t the worse part! Listen George, at this part we both get slightly out of tune, but it still sounds harmonious because the notes are somehow still a 3rd apart despite us both falling flat---”
> 
> “Shut up you prick with perfect pitch, can you please stop flexing for like 0.5 seconds?”
> 
> “Uhh guys? If you’re not going to continue the debrief, I have a recital to prepare for…”
> 
> “It’s okay Sapnap, just relax for a few! And oh my God Dream, please _stop wheezing_ , my lungs hurt just listening to that…”
> 
> ........................
> 
> Song mentioned is Say Something by A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera
> 
> The moment I heard this song I was like this song is made for a violin duet :D
> 
> I'm honestly not sure if I'll expand on this whole musician au bcs I'm currently very busy with college D: 
> 
> I know I know, it's weird that someone who is almost 20 years old is still watching mcyt... and I only got into them this year too
> 
> Well, enough ranting, thank you so much for reading!


End file.
